Wood rosettes? Wood rosettes??? What in heaven's... don't get me wrong. I like a good challenge as much as the next guy. I like to use all kinds of medium in unexpected ways. But I've never given an ounce of thought to wood rosettes. I was very tempted to paint them fun colors, let my kids go wild, and call them "decorative architectural building block fun"... but I dismissed that quickly. My next thought was a vase... but it didn't seem quite right... as I searched my brain, my eyes fell on the unused lamp I'd purchased on the super cheap from Walmart and then painted for my son's room. I'd created a shade to match the theme of the bedroom and the entire thing sits down in the basement gathering way too much dust. And so was born the:

I used a total of 16 wood rosettes for my lamp redo - stacked 4 high on each side. It was a very simple process to put it all together and involved only gorilla glue and elbow grease (though I do recommend clamps if you have them). I did have some issues with the shade, since I was trying to use what I had on hand and the only shade that was up to par required a harp - which this lamp did not have. I used the harp off of a different (FREE!) lamp I had in stash and screwed it to the lamp with copper pipe brackets and bolts and secured it with some gorilla glue. I chose to stay with a very simple, unembellished shade with clean lines since the base of the lamp is (obviously) the focal point. I wanted to do a paint staining technique with watered down paint and dry brush, but in the interest of time and ease I opted for spray paint. I initially was anticipating leaving it very glossy, clean and modern, but I was disappointed with how the detail of the rosettes was lost. I decided to do a faux glaze (faux because I didn't have any real glaze and I'm the kind of gal who likes to use what I've got first!) that basically involved black spray paint, a small dry brush, mineral spirits and an old rag. I'm surprised at how much I like considering

1) I generally gravitate to more polished, clean lines, high gloss, modern looks

2) I had no idea what I was doing and

3) I was using entirely wrong materials for glazing.

Coming soon - a full tutorial!

Everything for this lamp redo I had on hand - except for the rosettes of course! Although this was a project that took a different direction than I'd originally planned, I ended up with a lamp I will actually use - in our dining room and NOT our basement! - which I'm happy about. If I had it to do again, there are definitely things I'd do differently, but all in all I think branching out with an unlikely crafting element paid off!

1 comment:

Kim I love your lamp!! I was trying to figure out how the get the sides of my lamp to line up and not look weird. You obviously nailed it! I really like the alternating offset blocks. The color, everything is awesome, seriously. I'm going to link to your lamp on my FB page. :)

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